Black Narcissus

Synopsis

A story of exquisite yearning in a strange and beautiful land. Towering over the screen ... as the mountains that saw it happen.

A group of Anglican nuns, led by Sister Clodagh, are sent to a mountain in the Himalayas. The climate in the region is hostile and the nuns are housed in an odd old palace. They work to establish a school and a hospital, but slowly their focus shifts. Sister Ruth falls for a government worker, Mr. Dean, and begins to question her vow of celibacy. As Sister Ruth obsesses over Mr. Dean, Sister Clodagh becomes immersed in her own memories of love.

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In a perfect world, this is what comic book movies would look like. Powell and Pressburger took every visual trick in the book, it feels like, to craft this. It's not just the colors (which are widely touted) nor the painted backdrops (which feel more real than the best CGI) nor the huge spaces (which convey isolation and expansiveness at once--you feel so small and alone knowing how much of the world there is). It's also the blocking (see how Kanchi relates to the Little General, for instance) and the movement (the birds in their cages, the edges of the mountain making people flinch, the camera adjusting angle in an angular room) and the transitions (fading from Mr. Dean to…

The theme is from Forster and I Know Where I’m Going!, worked out "at the back of the beyond" by The Archers at their most carnal-bonkers-sublime. The old harem known as "the House of Women" is perched on the edge of Himalayan precipices, turning it into "the House of St. Faith" is the mission accepted by the Irish Sister Superior (Deborah Kerr) and her Anglican order. Quite a challenge for sanctity: There are howling winds up above and drums in the bamboo jungle below, plus the hirsute thighs of the sardonic government agent (David Farrar) to erode the resolve behind the pale habits. The stony cloister with clogged-up plumbing, the bejeweled Little General (Sabu) and the wayward odalisque (Jean Simmons),…

I suppose it was only fitting that I rejoined my run of The Archers films today with this particular film after making this list earlier!

I have to admit to being rather daunted by the prospect of watching Black Narcissus. In fact, it's probably a feeling I have about almost all of The Archers films. Not because I was worried about them being difficult or complex - in fact, so far they have all been about as approachable a selection of films that the uninitiated could possibly hope them to be.

It was more to do with the writing about them afterwards that I was daunted by. You become aware, even…

To put it simply Black Narcissus is about failure. About limitation. About arrogance. About madness. It was a terrifying experience to tell you the truth. On the surface it is a gorgeously shot movie with sharp colors and beautiful scenery but beneath this dazzling superficial layer lies a petrifying world of carnal desires, verbal threats and mental confusion with characters who are haunted by their own fears and doubts. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger take their characters to the end of the world and leave them alone with their own erratic minds and erotic fantasies and then witness their physical, spiritual and mental collapse. Black…

What did I just watch? Was this actually made in 1947? I don't think P&P are time travelers but this makes me a bit skeptical. This is possibly one of the best uses of technicolor I have ever seen and could pass as a film made in this 80s+. Beautiful painted backdrops and a marvelous setting makes for one great viewing experience. A story that unfolds at a perfect pace into a suspenseful final act. Highly recommended but I'm sure anybody familiar with P&P already have this on their watchlist or have seen it already. I am late to this party.

Film School Drop-Outs 2018! Week 11 - a film with cinematography by Jack Cardiff!

To make up for yesterday's discussion of The Maltese Falcon, wherein I set the film's visuals aside in order to talk about its audio, allow me to set aside discussion of Black Narcissus' themes and characters to absolutely gush about its looks in an undignified, improperly formatted manner.

Jesus Christ talk abut an entire team coming together to create a stunning-looking film. I came here because of the Jack Cardiff credit for the challenge, and while his camera placements ARE definitely masterful, I think it would be shameful to ONLY credit him. There are shots and sequences here where the entire crew is doing their jobs…

This supreme masterpiece used to be my very favorite film, and seeing it again after so long I can now remember why! Despite having devoted quite a bit of attention to The Archers' films, I had actually forgotten how contemporary their filmmaking -- from decoupage to character writing -- remains. One can still glean much from their films. Black Narcissus is well remembered today for Cardiff's (iirc) Vermeer-inspired cinematography and Junge's production design (in tandem with The Archers, this makes for some of the very greatest integrations of studio sets into final-cut format I know of*), and a couple of audience members even clapped in response to Easdale's name (composer), but certainly everybody else from…

This movie has the best editing, and technicolor has never been more gorgeous. Gawd I love Deborah Kerr. I got to see it on nitrate at Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, because I’m fancy like that. Dark and humorous and wonderful. You know besides the brown face. (Was Armie Hammer’s Call Me by Your Name look inspired by David Farrar?)